Jessica Fletcher, one of the horses rescued from Caerphilly after arriving at Redwings, with Shelley Marley. Photograph Simon Parker

More than 20 emaciated horses have joined others rescued from a site in Wales by a Norfolk charity.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary collected 26 animals from the scene in Caerphilly in South Wales last week which will be cared for alongside a further 26 rescued in February.

Caerphilly Borough Council’s Trading Standards Department led the first rescue from two sites with help given by Redwings which sent three lorries, two vets and eight handling staff.

Redwings’ head of welfare and veterinary surgeon Nic de Brauwere said the first group was now showing signs of improvement, and added: “On the first rescue we prioritised the ponies which were most desperate; they were extremely weak and in varying stages of emaciation.

“Whilst we hoped that by having fewer to care for things would improve for those left behind, we committed to monitoring them to guarantee they would be protected.

“On a revisit we found evidence that the remaining ponies were at risk if they did not come away too, also finding further animals in poor health.

“We had no choice but to scour every acre and remove all the remaining ponies and bring them into care, knowing there would be no more unhappy surprises for any equines on the two farms.”

The second group – mostly Welsh Section As and Ds - have all been named after cartoon villains.

And shortly after their arrival at Redwings, young mare Catty went on to give birth to Giddy - both named after characters from the Disney movie Dumbo.

Mr de Brauwere added: “Giddy’s start was not the best. Catty was really not sure what to do with the new arrival, her behaviour suggested this was her first foal.

“We had to intervene to get Catty to accept Giddy. Had she not been born here I fear Giddy might not have lived through her first night.”

The Caerphilly case has been likened by the charity, based at Hapton, near Tasburgh, to that at Spindle Farm near Amersham, Buckinghamshire, in 2008 from which it still has 63 horses, ponies and donkeys in its care after more than 100 animals were removed from horrific conditions.

To donate towards the care of the Caerphilly ponies, donate by text to RWHS00 followed the amount given (eg RWHS00 £5) to 70070, visit www.redwings.co.uk/donating or call 01508 481000.